Refund in respect of uncollectible accounts
 18. (1) The Financial Corporation may refund a debt retirement charge to a collector if, (a) the collector has remitted the debt retirement charge to the Financial Corporation; (b) the collector shows to the satisfaction of the Minister that the debt retirement charge was payable by a user in respect of electricity consumed by the user and the user has defaulted in the payment to the collector of all or part of the amount payable to the collector in respect of the electricity; (c) the collector has written off as a bad debt in its books of account the unpaid amount owing to the collector in respect of the electricity; and (d) at the time of the write-off of the unpaid amount as a bad debt, the write-off was in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, as recommended by the Accounting Standards Board of the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants and as set out in the CICA Handbook.  O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (1). (2) Despite subsection (1), no refund shall be made to a collector under this section in respect of an unpaid amount if, (a) the collector fails to claim the refund within four years from the end of the collector’s fiscal year in which it wrote off the unpaid amount as a bad debt; (b) the collector and the user were not dealing at arm’s length at the time the user consumed the electricity or at the time the collector wrote off the unpaid amount as a bad debt; (c) the collector is entitled to offset the unpaid amount against an amount payable by the collector to the user; (d) the collector has assigned, without recourse and for consideration, other than for security purposes, part or all of the unpaid amount, whether or not the assignee and the collector are related persons for the purposes of the Income Tax Act
(Canada); or (e) the payment for the electricity was made through the use of a credit card that was not issued by the collector or a corporation that is associated with the collector within the meaning of section 256 of the Income Tax Act (Canada).  O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (2). (3) In this section, a collector shall not be considered to deal with a user at arm’s length if the collector and user would not be considered to deal with each other at arm’s length for the purposes of the Income Tax Act (Canada).  O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (3). (4) The amount of a debt retirement charge that may be refunded to a collector under this section in respect of an unpaid amount shall be calculated using the formula, A × B/C in which, “A” is the amount of the debt retirement charge remitted by the collector with respect to the electricity consumed by the user, “B” is the amount by which the unpaid amount in respect of the electricity exceeds the sum of all interest, finance, carrying, collection or similar charges imposed by the collector with respect to the electricity consumed by the user and all amounts received by the collector on the realization of any security given to secure the unpaid amount, and “C” is the total amount that was payable by the user in respect of the electricity, including the amount of the debt retirement charge, but excluding the amount of goods and services tax imposed by the Government of Canada. O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (4). (5) The following rules apply for the purposes of claiming a refund under this section: 1. The collector may claim only one refund under this section of the debt retirement charge relating to an amount of electricity consumed by a user. 2. The collector shall claim the refund by deducting the amount of the refund from the amount of debt retirement charges the collector is required to remit to the Financial Corporation. 3. The collector shall make only one deduction described in paragraph 2 during any 12-month period for all claims for refund under this section, unless the collector has obtained the prior written consent of the Minister to make more than one deduction. 4. The collector shall retain in its records sufficient information and documentation to permit confirmation to the satisfaction of the Minister of the correct amount of the refund. 5. If payment for the electricity was made through the use of a credit card issued by the collector or by a corporation referred to in clause (2) (e), but the electricity was not supplied by the collector or the corporation, i. no part of the amount paid through the credit card shall be included in the unpaid amount specified as “B” under subsection (4), and ii. any payments made on the credit card account shall be applied to the earliest indebtedness before determining the unpaid amount specified as “B” under subsection (4).  O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (5). (6) If a collector subsequently recovers from any entity or through any means, other than a refund under this section, any of the unpaid amount in respect of which the refund was claimed, the collector shall repay to the Financial Corporation, by way of adjustment to the amount of debt retirement charges the collector is required to remit, the same percentage of any refund made under this section in respect of the unpaid amount that the amount recovered is of the amount designated as “B” in the formula in subsection (4) in respect of the unpaid amount.  O. Reg. 494/01, s. 18 (6). part viii   interest and Fee